“What is the brothers’ plan in the Islamic Magreb?” That’s the question raised today by Shmukh member Abu Safiyya. He thinks it’s perfectly legitimate to kill troops but it’s getting Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) nowhere. AQIM should be going after the leadership of the militaries in the region. Some readers are sympathetic but [...]
Archive for the ‘Algeria’ Category
What’s AQIM’s Strategy?
Posted: 20th July 2011 by Will McCants in Algeria, AQIM, North Africa, Strategy1
Two of the world’s foremost experts on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb have published new reports on the group. Al-Hayat journalist Camille Tawil has written a report for Jamestown, and Sciences-Po professor (and Jihadica alumnus) Jean-Pierre Filiu has written another report for Carnegie. Needless to say they are both excellent and worth anyone’s time.
Will AQIM Aim North or South?
Posted: 30th September 2009 by Jean-Pierre Filiu in Algeria, AQIM, France, UncategorizedIt appears that this year’s Ramadan was one of the least violent in the nearly two decades of jihadi activism in Algeria. While this period is hailed by militants and their leaders as the most propitious one for jihadi attacks, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was not able to wage a major operation. The [...]
In mid-December 2008, UN special envoy to Niger, Robert Fowler, and his aide, Louis Guay, mysteriously disappeared while on a field trip. The fate of the two Canadians long remained shrouded in uncertainty. A Nigerian Tuareg rebel group first claimed responsibility for their abduction, but this claim was quickly retracted. In early February Canadian authorities [...]
Pathetic Psy-ops
Posted: 5th February 2009 by Thomas Hegghammer in Algeria, AQ in Iraq, Conspiracy Theories, propaganda, Saudi Arabia, Western mediaThe British tabloid The Sun reported yesterday that al-Qaeda leaders rape male recruits to shame them into becoming suicide bombers. Let me start by congratulating the journalist on being able to fit the four words “al-Qaida”, “gay”, “rape” and “horror” in one and the same headline in the world’s largest English-language newspaper. I would not [...]
There is an incredible story coming out of Algeria these days. International and Algerian media have reported that 40 members of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were killed by the plague (black death) at a training camp in Tizi Ozou, eastern Algeria earlier this month (see also here). According to intelligence officials, the outbreak [...]
The Denudation Of The Exoneration: Part 7
Posted: 25th November 2008 by Will McCants in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Uncategorized, ZawahiriTags: Sayyid Imam, Zawahiri
In today’s installment, Sayyid Imam begins section three of his rebuttal in which he surveys the rhetorical tricks Zawahiri employs to misguide his readers. Imam continues to portray Zawahiri as the student of Bin Laden, the inverse of the common description of their relationship. To this end, Imam says that Zawahiri has adopted UBL’s obsession [...]